Running “Someone Sane and Honest Is *Different*”: LP Head on Gary Johnson’s Appeal

Running “someone sane and honest is different,” says Nicholas Sarwark, the national chair of the Libertarian Party in explaining the “unique selling proposition” of the “party of principle” in the 2016 presidential election.

Bolstered by a presidential ticket led Gary Johnson and Bill Weld, two former two-term governors, the LP has received an unprecedented amount of news coverage and popular interest, says Sarwark, who talks about how the systems is indeed rigged against third-party candidates. Between ever-changing ballot-access rules and patently ridiculous exclusions from presidential debates, he says, the one thing Republicans and Democrats agree on is keeping other parties at arm’s length. And yet, Sarwark notes, the duopoly is faltering because it no longer is fielding “authentic” and “honest” candidates.

In a new podcast, Reason’s Nick Gillespie talks with Sarwark about what the “party of principle” is up to in the final weeks of the 2016 race and the LP’s bold new strategy of running electable, pragmatic candidates who are also committed to maximum freedom and minimal government.